1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rideshare system and associated methodology. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rideshare system that matches a driver with a rider based on matching itineraries and personal affinities.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In recent years congestion on the nation's roadways has dramatically increased as more and more cars vie for space on the road. As a result, travel by car has become increasingly more difficult, and even short-distance commutes may be very time-consuming. Further, the rate of increase of traffic volume outpaces governmental efforts to maintain and expand roadways, making traffic jams commonplace, particularly in urban areas.
There is also increasing evidence that burning fossil fuels, such as when driving a car, emits gases that pollute the atmosphere, may contribute to respiratory illnesses, and may also contribute to global warming. While evolving car technologies produce ever more fuel efficient and cleaner-running cars, the pace of such innovation is outweighed by the sheer number of vehicles taking to the roads each year.
Additionally, recent demand for oil has driven gasoline prices higher, which, in turn, increases the cost of driving a car or any other vehicle which depends on oil or an oil derivative for fuel. Traffic congestion, where a car is likely to burn fuel while making little or no progress, only exacerbates the cost of driving.
The above-noted factors have led to an interest in finding new modes of transportation that either use alternate fuels, better use existing fuels, or simply transport people more efficiently. Among these modes is ridesharing. Ridesharing involves a group of people commuting from a departure point to a destination in a single vehicle. Thus, the number of cars on the road may be reduced in proportion to the number of people willing to be passengers (or “riders”) in a rideshare, thereby also reducing the amount of fuel burned and exhaust emitted.
For example, one conventional way of ridesharing is by riding a public bus. Though a bus may consume more fuel than a car, it also transports many more people, making it a very efficient mode of transportation. However, ridesharing on a bus is very restrictive insofar as all of the departure/arrival locations and times are predetermined along a rigid route. Thus, a bus rider must adjust his or her schedule to the bus's schedule, and must frequently walk or use another form of transportation to arrive at his or her final destination since bus stops rarely coincide with a traveler's final destination.
Another conventional way of ridesharing is carpooling. For example, co-workers may take turns driving to and from work in their respective private cars. This way, each individual car travels less, saving on cost of fuel, maintenance, emissions, etc.
However, like riding a public bus, carpooling can be rigid. Carpooling requires advance planning of the departure time, departure location, destination, etc., and therefore may only be suitable for repetitive trips, such as driving to work, school, and the like. Therefore, carpooling may only be an attractive option for co-workers, family members, students attending a same school or class, and the like. It is unlikely that two completely unrelated people (i.e. strangers) would even know of each other's willingness to carpool, much less coincide in destination, departure/arrival times, etc. Therefore, carpooling among strangers is uncommon.
With the advent of the internet, carpooling has been made more efficient by carpooling sites such as ride-share.pickuppal.com, erideshare.com, rideshareonline.com, or dividetheride.com. These sites allow users to post advertisements seeking either drivers or riders in a quasi-public forum in order to find a match. Once a rideshare is identified, these sites merely provide the prospective participants with the contact information of other participants. Conventionally, these sites do not take part in negotiating the rideshare (i.e. determining who will participate and who will not) nor in making the final arrangements. Further, many of these conventional rideshare sites lack a way of keeping user information private until a rideshare is accepted, and then providing the user information only to those users that accept the rideshare.
Moreover, conventional sites provide itinerary information, but no personal affinity information. Because rideshare websites are quasi-public forums visited by thousands, if not millions of users, it is unlikely that candidates to a possible rideshare will know each other. As these sites offer only itinerary information, a user must choose rideshare companions solely on itinerary, and without knowing if he or she is compatible with the other rideshare participants in other ways. Thus, ridesharing in this way may lead to boring, unpleasant, or even dangerous situations, and may dissuade at least some people from sharing rides.
Conventional systems also lack a way of determining the current position (location) of their members. As such, ridesharing through conventional websites and systems may still require advance planning as the only itinerary information available for their respective members is the one pre-entered by the users themselves. For example, if a driver has an itinerary that is fifty miles from a rider, that rider may not consider ridesharing with the driver even though the driver may only be one mile away from the rider at the time that the rider is searching for a ride. Therefore, conventional systems and websites lack the ability to create a real-time (or “just in time”) rideshare.
Furthermore, as demand for fossil fuels increases, and fossil fuel stores become depleted, governments may want to provide incentives to encourage citizens to seek other means of transportation besides driving their own cars. For example, a “cap and trade” system may be employed wherein each citizen is allotted a fixed number of driving credits, and may trade the credits with other citizens by forming rideshares. Current ridesharing websites and ridesharing systems are not equipped to track such a system.